Davao leaders nominate members of body to govern city’s airport

FILE PHOTO: Davao International Airport. INQUIRER FILES

DAVAO CITY — The Regional Development Council, through the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) regional office, has submitted to the national government the nominees for the board of directors of the Davao International Airport Authority.

“We were actually instructed by the Office of the President – that is, the Regional Development Council 11 – to facilitate the submission of a new or updated list of nominees from our local government units comprising Davao Region and the private sector members (who) will be part of the Davao International Airport Authority board,” NEDA Regional Director Maria Lourdes Lim said Friday, adding that the list was submitted last month.

Lim said the board, when it starts to function, will facilitate improvement projects of the airport. “Decision in project implementation will be faster because (the board is) independent.”

Signed in 2019 by then President Rodrigo Duterte, Republic Act 11457 creates the Davao International Airport Authority to manage the facility.

READ: Duterte approves creation of Davao International Airport Authority

Under the law, the board will serve as the policy-making body of the authority and will be composed of the chair, vice chair, and 13 members. The chair is the secretary of the Department of Transportation while the vice chair is the general manager of the airport.

Other ex-officio members are the director general or representative of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the secretaries or representatives of the Departments of Finance, Justice, Health, Agriculture and Tourism, and the representative from the city government.

The other members are private citizens from any of the areas in the Davao Region “who are of known probity, competence and integrity on airport management, aviation, finance, business, law and other related fields. These people will also be appointed by the President.

Meanwhile, airport officials said the renovation of the facility, particularly the north wing as well as the terminal, is expected to be completed within the first semester of the year although this will be after the two biggest events in the city next month.

READ: Bomb joke disrupts flight in Davao International Airport

Sarah Jane Saladaga, chief engineer of the airport, said the project, which costs the government P1.07 billion, will be in full blast in April after the “Araw ng Dabaw” celebration, the founding anniversary of the city, and the Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions and Exhibition Conference (MiceCon) next month.

But Saladaga pointed out that to ensure the easy access of visitors that will attend the two events, “we make sure that the north wing will be opened.”

The city government instructed the contractor of the project to complete it before the start of next month due to the expected influx of visitors to the two events.

She said the city government and the airport officials will meet next Monday to assess the situation as visitors are expected to start arriving by that time.